Legitimate Theater Bonus: #7. Silence! The Musical (2005)

Welcome to Legitimate Theater: a column dedicated to movie-based stage musicals. The goal of this series is to explore those stories that originated in films and eventually worked their way onto Broadway and beyond. By the end of each entry, there will hopefully be a better understanding of this odd but rampant trend in modern entertainment. Are these stories really worth telling through song and dance? How can it even compare to the technical prowess of a camera and seamless editing? Join me on this quest as I explore the highs and lows of this trend on the third Wednesday of every month and hopefully answer what makes this Legitimate Theater.

Opening

For fans of cinema, there's been few crime stories that have been as captivating as Silence of the Lambs. Not only did it introduce the world to an iconic performance by Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector, but it also created a world that would spawn a pretty fascinating franchise. Among the highlights is a show that would end up on several highly acclaimed lists, winning a few Tina Awards as well for its Off-Broadway production. Silence! The Musical is a satirical take on the familiar story, playing into the familiar beats so well with a sense of humor that takes the audience through the dark subject with a strange accessibility. It's a show that may not ever be considered one of the most eloquent or perfect musicals of its kind, but there's no denying its charm. It has cultivated a cult following and is another perfect entry into the Halloween canon of musical theater, or is it?

A Quick Background

Tony Wins: N/A

Based on: Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Music: Jon and Al Kaplan

Lyrics: Jon and Al Kaplan

Book: Hunter Bell

Prominent Actors: Sean McDermott, Laura Jordan, David Ayers, Charlie Williams

Soundtrack

1. "Silence!"
2. "This Ish It/The Right Guide"
3. "If I Could Smell Her Cunt"
4. "Papa Shtarling"
5. "It's Agent Shtarling"
6. "Are You About a Size 14?"
7. "My Daughter is Catherine"
8. "Quid Pro Quo"
9. "I'd Fuck Me"
10. "It's Me"
11. "Catherine Dies Today"
12. "Papa Shtarling Reprise"
13. "Put the Fucking Lotion in the Basket"
14. "We're Goin' In"
15. "In the Dark With a Maniac/Bill's Death"
16. "Reprise and Finale"

Note: Listen to the music here

Song Exploration

Opening Song:
"Silence!"

There's a lot of room to suggest that the opening track would determine the atmosphere for the music to follow. It makes sense then that a comical version of this story would be full of heightened theatricals. If anything, it's a perfect subversion that mixes choirs of angelic voices singing demented lyrics and introducing the world to some of cinema's most daunting characters. It's funny in context, and works because the people who wrote the music have a knack for making it catchy and authentic, adding enough personality to make it more than a one-note joke repeated for an entire show.

Carryovers

The story writ large is probably the same through and through at its core. Every beat of the music follows the story of Clarice Starling as she goes about trying to solve murders caused by Buffalo Bill. Even the dynamic between Clarice and Hannibal are carried over almost exact. If anything, it's the one disconcerting element that makes the remainder of the show a bit hard to fully appreciate. The upbeat, innocent music has a lot of charm on its own, but pairing it with dark, dark subject matter is maybe a bit too overbearing at points and your mileage will vary as to how much humor can be derived from campy recounts of horrific acts by serial killers. 

High Point:

"This Ish It/The Right Guide"

In one of the rare songs that isn't overbearing about death and murder, it's great to hear the show nail the theme of discovery for the characters. Yes, there's still some dark references scattered throughout, but there's still this innocence and charm that shines through as this becomes the introduction of Clarice's character as well as her journey to meeting Hannibal. It does so much through song that is some of the best theater. It's clever and effective in all of the right ways, and it is one of the few times that Clarice's comical lisp is actually an endearing trait to the whole show.

Low Point:

"My Daughter is Catherine"

Save for a funny exchange towards the middle from Clarice, this is a song that is definitely meant to be weaker than the others. It could just be that the melodrama is so overbearing here and it all adds up to a very obvious joke. Repeating Catherine's name ad nauseum is meant to be funny because of how lacking it is of further detail and how obvious it is as a concept. That may be the point, but considering that the motifs of every other character has some rich characteristics, it's a bit disappointing that the song gives up and goes for the easy laugh. Maybe it works better on stage, but on the soundtrack it's all a bit lacking and is one of the few truly weak spots in the whole show.

What Does It Bring to the Story?

The easy answer is comedy. The story is largely verbatim with a lot of the lines being lifted directly from the film. However, the comedy is effectively tongue-in-cheek despite being essentially the darkness set to peppy rhythms. It's a novel concept, and one that makes Buffalo Bill's creepiness transcendent. He's suddenly also kind of funny, along with Hannibal's profane music at different points throughout the story. It's still pretty good at keeping the story true, but its self-awareness is meant to be funny, and it's tough to argue for and against why this is a good thing. It's good because it alleviates the tension caused by the disturbing story. It's bad because, well, there's no way to make this work as downright horrifying music - so why even try?

Was This Necessary?

No

I am aware that this is a big success with a cult following, even ending up on legitimate lists of the best theatrical productions of 2005. I probably would enjoy it on stage. However, I think that the music by itself is not very convincing as more than a one note joke. Everyone has silly voices that are endearing until they are not, and the dark subject matter is put to great satirical use, again until it's not. The album is brief, and yet some elements outstay their welcome. Still, it's a lot better than it has any right to be, creating a surreal vision of horror and comedy that shouldn't be going together. It's a bit sloppy at points (why shout out Jodie Foster's future films like that?), but at least it's coherent and ambitious. It's an idea that could work in short doses, but unfortunately it's hard to think of this as a masterpiece on par with the film.